Both Evan Davies and John Humphrys are in the running for a 2009 Sony Award, for Speech Broadcaster of the Year. This week, you heard why. On Tuesday, Humphrys dismantled Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, with elaborate care, as if he was tidying away a construction made from incredibly expensive toilet paper. Smith, for her part, helped him to do it. She answered all his questions. But every time she did, you went "ouch".

"It simply cannot be right," said Humphrys, gently, "that somebody takes taxpayers' money to furnish a house in the way that you have charged for, and at the same time has another home."

"I know that people find this difficult," said Smith, "but ..." But? Ouch.

"Are they right?" pounced Humphrys, still polite. "So you acknowledge that it's wrong?"

"No, I don't," said Smith. Ouch ouch.

"Surely the way to do it," commented Humphrys, almost mildly, "is to pay you for the time you have to be away from your family home... not this ludicrous position where you can go off and furnish an entire house right down to the bath plug and charge for it?"

"Well, I've furnished two houses, of course," said Smith, "and that's the point." Ouchity ouch. I really must stop punching the wall. I'm like a Pavlovian demolition man, driven to violence against property whenever I hear Smith speak. Frankly, it was a miracle that the volatile Humphrys didn't tear her to pieces, but the interview was so much more revealing because he didn't.

Then, on Wednesday, Evan Davies was given the task of discussing the Guardian footage of a policeman during the G20 protests apparently shoving newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson, who later died. This was a proper legal and political talking point, which Davies, more naturally casual than the other Today presenters, could well have messed up. Instead, as gently as Humphrys the day before, he demolished Peter Smyth, the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation.

"Is hard shoving considered a reasonable tool of a policeman's job?" wondered Davies.

"Well," said Smyth, "some protesters are clearly hell-bent on causing as much trouble as they can and inevitably there will be physical confrontation."

"You look at the video ... " murmured Davies, "and it doesn't really look like he was hell-bent on anything. It almost looks like an unprovoked assault really, doesn't it?"

Later, he asked: "Do you think this makes kettling look less clever?"

"I don't think you can judge a tactic on one very small incident ... " began Smyth, before Davies butted in: "It's not a small incident, it's an innocent person who died on the streets of London." Give them both the award, I say.

Not much room for other shows, but let's have a highlights section. Over on Radio 2, Zoe Ball is sitting in for Ken Bruce, spreading her morning sunshine. Also on 2, on Thursday evening, Stuart Maconie chatted to Mike D from the Beastie Boys and then played Shadrach, one of my all-time favourite Beasties' tracks. And in Bringing Up Baby, on Radio 4, Mariella Frostrup and guests attempted to reassure parents who shout at their kids. "What's a bit of noise among friends?" asked Jennie Bristow. "Life isn't perfect." Too much din? Just turn up the radio.